Follow Us:

FEATURED POST:

Category: Senate Coup!

Republican Sen. Frank Padavan has submitted an affidavit to both Governor Paterson and the Secretary of the Senate, in which he says that he did not check into the Senate Chamber this afternoon and cannot be counted as being present. There’s a small inconsistency in his affidavit— In a press scrum with reporters, Padavan said […] More »

Here’s a video of today’s 10 a.m. extraordinary session, courtesy of Kyle Hughes over at nysnys.com. The funny part of this video comes at the 3:00 mark — Kyle happens to be focused in on Democratic Sen. Jeff Klein as GOP Sen. Dean Skelos asks for the floor after Senate Democratic Leader Malcolm Smith asks […] More »

The 30-minute press conference by Gov. David Paterson has been a roller coaster of emotions and information. 12:40 pm: Paterson walked in. Standing at a podium flanked by local government representatives from throughout the state, the governor announced that Republican Sen. Frank Padavan walked into the chamber and Senate Democrats claim he gave them the […] More »

Senate Democrats claim there they have quorum because Sen. Frank Padavan, R-Queens, walked in and out of the chamber and was marked present. Senate Democrats are now moving through their active list for the regular session. Padavan is talking to reporters right now, explaining that he was in the lounge and he was not present […] More »

The GOP Senate Democrats have set up four chairs for the public negotiations that the Senate Democrats called for yesterday. TV cameras and reporters are huddled in a U around the four chairs. As of a second ago, Senate Democrats were preparing to go into the chamber for another attempt at regular “session,” according to […] More »

Those pesky judicial pay raises, which the legislature has been stalling for over a decade. From the TU’s Rob Gavin, from Judge Joseph C. Teresi’s courtroom yesterday: Teresi told Gleason he was a little disappointed the governor’s request for an extraordinary session did not include anything for judicial pay raises, adding, “Again, I say that […] More »

Appellate Court Judge Bernard J. Malone, Jr. did not grant a stay to the Senate GOP. But the judge did grant a hearing before allow submission of papers to five-member Appellate Division panel at 3 p.m. today. While the Senate and its court-ordered quorum has just adjourned with Democrats planning to come back in session […] More »

Judge Joseph Teresi has ordered that all 62 senators must report into the Senate chamber, at the same time, for extraordinary session at 10 a.m. tomorrow. From TU reporter Rob Gavin: “The governor does have the power to convene the Senate only – the question now becomes, what that word ‘convene’ means,” Teresi said. “I […] More »

Senate Democrats held a press conference during which they, like the GOP+Espada coalition, postured and essentially held firm on the same arguments as every other day for the past three weeks. The “new” proposal — challenge the GOP to go into the chamber tomorrow at noon, to hold session on non-controversial items (the list does […] More »

The GOP+Espada coalition have sent out a press release, turning the tables on the Senate Democrats, accusing them of failing to negotiate. This press release is a bit different from previous releases (though it does still take shots at the Democrats for not recognizing the June 8 vote). See this quote: “Recognizing that we now […] More »

As negotiations continue (we think?) Sen. Darrel Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, has offered up a proposal to close out the session. In short, the proposal would be to have a one-day session, during which all of those who claim leadership would step aside, allowing a neutral rank-and-file member to take the title of Senate President Pro […] More »

There have been many interpretations of public comments made by Democratic Sen. Pedro Espada, Jr. and Republican Leader Dean Skelos following reports of a deal coming together. Most are widely interpreting that a deal that was once on, is once off. But allow me to posit another theory. But first, here are the comments by […] More »

The Democrats’ attempt at extraordinary session was over and done with in less than two minutes flat. The only business — a moment of silence to honor actress Farrah Fawcett and the King of Pop Michael Jackson. The Republican-led coalition’s session was similarly short — but they did not honor any pop icons. More »

From TU reporter Casey Seiler, who just left court: In a court proceeding that was decidedly more collegial compared with Tuesday’s proceeding, acting Supreme Court Judge Thomas McNamara approved a subpoena for a transcript and journal record of the proceedings of June 8. The subpoenaed materials will be due by 1 p.m. Monday. The subpoena […] More »

Senate leaders are nearing a power-sharing accord to allow the chamber to move forward, according to a source close to the negotiations. The agreement would be in effect through 2010. There are a few remaining items left for the principals to agree on, but the leadership question seems to have been resolved. The lineup: President […] More »

PEF Rep - 30 yr member: The three years of work done and paid for by the members Shredded. Is this rhe heart of a...

Archives

Archives

About Capitol Confidential

Capitol Confidential gathers the best coverage of New York politics and puts it all together. Each section - Capitol, The State Worker, New York on the Potomac, and Voices - represents a unique facet of the political scene. The Capitol section features coverage from the Times Union Capitol bureau. The State Worker is dedicated to state worker issues. New York on the Potomac offers news of interest to New Yorkers from Washington. And Voices features the best of everything else, pointing you to columnists and bloggers from across the Web.